Ron Brown (politician, 1941)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ron Brown

Ronald Harmon Brown (born August 1, 1941 in Washington, DC - † April 3, 1996 near Dubrovnik , Croatia ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who served in the cabinet of President Bill Clinton during his first term as Secretary of Commerce ( Secretary of Commerce ). He was the first African American to hold this post. In 1996 he was killed with 34 other occupants in the crash of a Boeing CT-43A of the United States Air Force .

Early life and political career

Ron Brown was born in Washington and grew up in a middle-class family in Harlem , New York . He was a member of Jack and Jil ' , an African American social and philanthropic organization. Brown attended Hunter College Elementary School and Rhodes Preparatory School . His father ran the Theresa Hotel in Harlem, where Ron grew up. As a child, he starred in a commercial for Pepsi-Cola, one of the first to specifically target the African-American community.

While at Middlebury College , Ron Brown became the first African American member of Sigma Phi Epsilon , a nationwide fraternity. After graduating from college in 1962, Brown joined the army and served in South Korea and Europe ; in the same year he married Alma Arrington. After his release in 1967, Brown joined the National Urban League , one of the leading civil rights movements in the United States. In the meantime he attended law school at St. John's University and graduated in 1970.

Rise in the Democratic Party

Ron Brown speaking

In 1976, Brown was promoted from the National Urban League to assistant executive director, programs and state affairs. Even so, he quit in 1979 to work as assistant campaign manager for Senator Edward Kennedy , who was running for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

In 1981, Brown joined the Washington law firm Patton, Boggs & Blow as an attorney and lobbyist . In May 1988, Brown was named by Jesse Jackson to lead his team for the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. In June, Brown also led Jackson's election campaign.

Brown was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1989. In 1992 he played an important role in the successful election of Bill Clinton as Democratic candidate and his successful campaign for president. Then in 1993 Clinton appointed him to his cabinet . Brown was at that time in his party as a future presidential candidate.

In 1994, preacher Jerry Falwell distributed a documentary called The Clinton Chronicles: An Investigation into the Alleged Criminal Activities of Bill Clinton . The documentary claims that Clinton is implicated in a murder and cocaine smuggling conspiracy with Vince Foster , Jim McDougal and Ron Brown. The theory was revoked, but the video still sold more than 150,000 times.

death

A US Air Force helicopter behind the wreck of the USAF CT-43A, approximately two miles north of Dubrovnik Airport (taken on April 4, 1996)

On April 3, 1996, Brown was with 34 other people on an official trade mission aboard an Air Force CT-43A (a modified Boeing 737 ). During an instrument approach to Dubrovnik Airport , the aircraft crashed into a mountain. With the exception of one stewardess, who later died on the way to the hospital, all inmates were killed in the impact. The Air Force investigations revealed that the crash was caused by a failure at the command level, a pilot error and a poorly designed landing approach.

legacy

President Clinton created the Ron Brown Award , an award for corporate leadership and responsibility.
The Department of Commerce presents the Ronald H. Brown American Innovator Award annually in his honor .
The largest ship in the NOAA fleet, the NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown , was named after him in honor of his services shortly after his death.
The California Black Chamber of Commerce hosts the Ron Brown Business Economic Summit every August . The building of the US Mission to the United Nations in New York is called Ronald H. Brown US Mission to the UN USUN Building .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Douglas Martin: Edward F. Boyd Dies at 92; Marketed Pepsi to Blacks. , The New York Times . May 6, 2007. Retrieved May 5, 2007. 
  2. ↑ The Falwell connection ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. by Murray Waas Salon.com @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www1.salon.com
  3. ^ William Jefferson Clinton Memorial Library
  4. ↑ Pilot errors and poor equipment cause Brown's plane crash , from CNN.com. published June 7, 1996; Retrieved September 12, 2008.
  5. ^ Department of Defense news article
  6. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report in the Aviation Safety Network (English)

bibliography

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Brown, Ron
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brown, Ronald Harmon (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Washington, DC
DATE OF DEATH April 3, 1996
PLACE OF DEATH near Dubrovnik , Croatia